CROWN HEIGHTS — Community members, elected officials, legal advocates and family members gathered in Crown Heights for a solemn and powerful vigil marking one year since the death of Robert Brooks while in New York State custody. The event honored Brooks’ life, mourned his tragic passing and renewed urgent calls for systemic reform in New York’s prison system.
The vigil was emceed by longtime justice advocate Derrick Hamilton, whose experience with wrongful conviction and decades of advocacy for incarcerated people set the tone for an evening grounded in both grief and determination. Hamilton guided the program with steady resolve, emphasizing both remembrance and action.
Among those in attendance were former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Assemblymember Latrice Walker, Robert Brooks Jr. and guest speaker Nicholas Liakas, a trial lawyer who represents multiple incarcerated individuals who have faced similar patterns of systemic abuse, neglect and violence within New York’s correctional system…